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My Top 5 Episodes of Voyager Season Five

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As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene. See her favorite episodes of Voyager season five. 

In my mind this season of Voyager was very okay. There were some I wasn’t crazy about, one standout, and the rest were good or fine. However, I do have two honorable mentions I considered for this list that I wanted to mention: Relativity and Nothing Human.

5. In The Flesh

In this episode, the Voyager crew finds a recreation of Starfleet Academy on a planet and learn that an alien species they have encountered are using it to learn how to infiltrate the human race.

4. Equinox Parts 1 & 2

Part Two is technically in season 6, but I still decided include them both on my list for season five. It’s comforting to the Voyager crew when they run into another Star Fleet ship, the Equinox, but their crew is hiding a dark secret that makes it clear they have abandoned Star Fleet protocols. Between Janeway and Ransom these episodes made me uncomfortable at times, but that is the point. What are you willing to do in order to survive?

3. Someone to Watch Over Me

This is a fun episode where the Doctor (of all people) tries to teach Seven about social interactions and dating, and then ends up falling for her (which I can live without, but whateves). There’s also a secondary plot where Neelix is hosting an alien ambassador who gets a little too caught up in the pleasures Voyager has to offer.

2. Counterpoint

Even though this episode features the most awkward kiss ever, I love all the trickery and deception in this one.

1. Bride of Chaotica

This episode is pure fun and a great homage to classic sci-fi. When an alien species mistakes the characters from Tom’s Chaotic holodeck program for the real crew, they have to be creative in defeating the enemy in the program, as well as effectively communicating who they really are with the aliens. You can tell Kate Mulgrew had a blast putting on the persona of Queen Arachnia.

What are your favorite episodes of Voyager season five?

Monthly Recap: July

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Books I Read

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (reread)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick (finished July 1)

So I read A Wrinkle In Time for the first time. And I can see why it’s so beloved and classic. However, some of it was too on-the-nose for me and some of it was a hair too out-there. It’s like when I watched Interstellar for the first time, and I was pretty sure where it was going and I watched as this movie teeter-tottered on the fine line between interesting sci-fi and going off the deep end. I wanted to feel just a little more invested in the characters and could have done with less unnecessary riddles. I also watched the trailer of the new movie coming out the same day I finished and felt a little disappointed. I guess I wanted the movie to feel more classic, but to me it already screams: THIS WAS MADE IN 2017, so I don’t see it enduring as a movie. But that’s based off a two-minute trailer, so what do I know? Maybe it will be amazing.

A New Favorite…

Baking mix! Though don’t let the fact that it comes in a box fool you, this is almost as involved as made-from-scratch, but just as delicious and so worth it!

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

For some reason, it feels really momentous to have finished Deep Space Nine again. Probably because I love the show so much and the end is just so satisfying for me. As is reflected by my top episode of the season, the Nog arc really did it for me. But of course there are also the great arcs we see for Kira, Bashir, Damar, Sisko… It could be talked about forever, which is why there are podcasts dedicated to such. (If you’re a fan of DS9, be sure to give The Orb podcast a listen.)

#bookstagram Images of the Month

I think that both Caraval and Wall-E have made it onto my #bookstagram images of the month before, but they’re just so photogenic!

Movies I Watched

My husband and I saw Spider-man: Homecoming and Dunkirk. I reviewed Spider-man here, and I’m still sorting out my feelings for Dunkirk. It’s incredibly raw and intense, but without much of a narrative it was hard for me to appreciate it as a story. It’s a beautiful film, that’s for sure, but I would have loved to have gotten to know the characters onscreen better. I mean, in a way we know them because we see them when they’re afraid, but… I just wish I could adequately describe how I respect what Nolan was doing but just don’t really love it but I desperately want to. I actually want to try to see it again, preferably in film, now that I better understand what happened, thanks to the movie’s Wikipedia page that spelled it out.

In Case You Missed It…

I was featured on Andi’s ABCs talking about what decision I wish technology would make for me!

Plans for August

Switchfoot concert! I’m so excited. I lost count on how many times I’ve seen them long ago. It’s got to be around the dozen mark at this point. It’s also my husband’s birthday month! Which means CAKE! Oh, and celebrating my wonderful husband. 🙂 It also means my birthday is around the corner SOS I don’t want to get older.

Potential July TBR

It Started With Goodbye by Christina June (already started)

These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker

Without a Summer (Glamourist Histories #3) by Mary Robinette Kowal

(yes I know those last two were on last month’s list… shhh…)

How was your July? What are you looking forward to in August?

My Top 5 Episodes of DS9 Season Seven

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As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene. See her favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine season seven. 

I can’t believe I have finished DS9 for the second time! Ack! It was so good. I just love the last several episodes of the show and the finale. But despite my love for the last several episodes, my five favorite episodes are actually scattered throughout the season.

5. Take Me Out to the Holosuite

This one was even sillier than I remembered, and probably not quite as strong as some of the season’s later episodes, but still… “Death to the opposition!”

4. Extreme Measures

One of the last episodes of the show, in which Bashir is able to bait Sloan from Section 31 to the station. When he demands the cure to Odo’s disease from Sloan, it won’t come easily. It seriously feels like Christopher Nolan watched this and drew inspiration from it for Inception.

3. Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang

Thanks to a programmed “jack-in-the-box,” a mobster comes after Vic Fontaine, and the DS9 crew plan a heist to get Vic back into business. This one is just so much fun.

2. What You Leave Behind

A finale where everything right happens, even when there is sad in it too, and everything just feels complete.

1. It’s Only a Paper Moon

I loved this episode the first time, but it for sure made me teary-eyed this time around. After Nog loses his leg, he immerses himself in Vic’s world to forget his real-world troubles. Nog and Vic’s conversation in the end is pitch perfect. And Nog’s character arc… just wow. I love it all.

I’m sad to leave behind the world of Deep Space Nine once again! But I’ll be back one day. 🙂

What are your favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine, season seven?

(Coming soon… my top 10 episodes of all Deep Space Nine!)

My Top 10 Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Not too long ago, my husband and I were talking about startrek.com’s poll results of fans’ favorite top 10 episodes of all of Star Trek. I disagreed with some of the episodes and definitely the order, so my husband suggested I create a top 10 list favorite of each series, and then at the end of our current rewatch do my own top 10 of all the series. Last month I shared my top 10 favorite episodes of the original series, and today I wanted to share my top 10 episodes of TNG. In descending order…

10. Data’s Day

A day in the life of Data proves to be anything but typical in this episode. It also features one of my favorite poems of all time, “Ode to Spot.” 😉

9. Disaster

When members of the Enterprise crew are isolated to different sections of the ship thanks to a disaster, they have to work in atypical pairs/groupings to find their way back to each other. (And now I have a great idea for an Escape Room style game…)

8. Lower Decks

This episodes provides a glimpse into the lives of some of the younger, less experienced officers aboard the Enterprise

7. Parallels

One of the best uses of an alternate timeline I’ve ever seen, in which Worf has to set things back to how he remembers them to be.

6. The Measure of a Man

An episode which explores just what it is to be human.

5. The Drumhead

When Picard is put on trial for some of his actions, he has to defend himself against someone who seems determined to see him fail.

4. The Inner Light

An alien probe affects Picard as he lives out another life as another man.

3. Yesterday’s Enterprise

Another great use of an alternate timeline in which the Federation is in the middle of a brutal war.

2. Best of Both Worlds

The Enterprise encounters the Borg and Picard gets assimilated. Whaaaaat.

1. Chain of Command

A Cardassian is determined to get answers out of Picard that he doesn’t have in this compelling look into the psychology of torture.

Which episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation are your favorite? 

My Top 10 Episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series

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For those of you who have been paying attention, you may wonder, Amy, why are you talking about the original series while watching Deep Space Nine and Voyager? Didn’t you already share your favorite episodes? 

As Ezri Dax would say, these are all very good questions.

My husband and I were talking startrek.com’s recent poll results of fans’ favorite top 10 episodes of all of Star Trek. Of course I disagreed with some of the episodes and definitely the order. So my husband suggested I create a top 10 list favorite of each series, and then at the end of our rewatch do my own top 10 of all the series. Let me tell you, I anticipate that will be quite the task.

But I’m taking this one series at a time at the moment, going back to TOS. I’ll share TNG soon, and then will go through the others after I finish the entire series again and have already done my Top 5 episodes of the last season. In descending order…

10. Space Seed

My feelings for this episode are complicated, but it’s an important one in Star Trek lore.

9. The Menagerie

Even though I prefer the original TOS pilot The Cage which features the same story line, this is what we get as part of the official series and the concept is so interesting.

8. The Cloud Miners

The commentary about division of classes in this one makes it a worthwhile watch.

7. The Enterprise Incident

Sneaky spy stuff + a different side to Spock makes this a really solid TOS episode.

6. Mirror, Mirror

The only mirror episode in all of Star Trek that I really like because it was just fun and didn’t get rehashed into weirdness (looking at you DS9 mirror universe).

5. The Naked Time

A fun early episode in which even Spock loses his cool.

4. All Our Yesterdays

A poignant time travel episode.

3. A Piece of the Action

The Star Trek crew get to be gangsters for a day. Just fun.

2. The City on the Edge of Forever

An even MORE poignant time travel story that confronts the idea of letting history run its course no matter the cost.

1. The Trouble with Tribbles

I mean, you know how much I love tribbles. 🙂

What are your top episodes of all three seasons of Star Trek’s original series?

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